Are virtual machines legally compliant?
By Emanuel Böminghaus, Legacy Systems Expert and Managing Director, AvenDATA
By Emanuel Böminghaus
Legacy Systems Expert and
Managing Director, AvenDATA
Managing Director, AvenDATA
If you think running your legacy system on a VM solves the problem, you’re sitting on a ticking time bomb.
Many organizations believe that putting an old system into a virtual machine (VM) is a safe way to “park” it. But relying on an exported system image on a virtual server as a long-term solution underestimates the risks and could jeopardize your entire data strategy. Here’s the hard truth: a VM is not a compliant archive. Period. What looks like a convenient shortcut at first glance quickly becomes deceptive. Virtual machines don’t resolve the legal requirements, nor do they address the underlying technical challenges of legacy systems.
- No compliance: A VM doesn’t meet requirements like GDPR or audit proof archiving. Data integrity and access controls aren’t guaranteed.
- Technical dependency: Hypervisor updates, OS changes, or hardware incompatibilities can quickly make the VM unusable.
- Poor usability: Business teams can’t perform simple, fast queries. Everything remains highly technical, complex, and error prone.
- Black box risk: The entire legacy system keeps running inside the VM unpatched, vulnerable, and without proper safeguards.
- Hidden costs: Virtual servers still require licenses, storage, and maintenance. The savings are often less than expected.
- Legacy lock-in: Old applications often depend on proprietary databases or license servers, which must continue running inside the VM creating compliance risks.
- No audit trail: VMs lack audit proof logs and traceability, which can become a major issue during audits or in legal disputes.
Conclusion
A VM may look like a quick fix, but it’s not a secure or sustainable solution. Businesses that want long-term compliance and safety need a real archiving strategy.
Our solution: The ViewBox from AvenDATA.
With ViewBox, your data remains fully accessible, legally compliant, and independent of the original system. Features such as powerful search, user management, and audit trails keep your legacy data secure, transparent, and future-proof. All of this comes without maintenance overhead.
Ready to retire a legacy system?